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His eyes.

The darkness in them was intense.

“I’m not someone who can keep a pet.”

He frowned, the skin between his brows furrowing.

He tilted his head to the side, just an inch or so. “At least, I couldn’t before. Now…”

He stretched out a leg, and she saw three lines of scarring across his shin.

“I might have more time on my hands soon.”

She didn’t like the defeat she heard in his tone.

He looked like a man who did things.

Went places.

“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking.”

He opened his mouth and closed it again.

When he pulled his leg back beside the other one, he gave her what she could only describe as a sardonic smile. “Why not ask,” he sighed, long and slow, “I feel like everyone knows. I was in a crash and something under the water took out a chunk of my leg.”

She gasped and then covered her mouth with a hand.

When he looked away, she stammered out an apology. “Sorry. That must have been scary.”

There was something in his eyes that said she’d missed the mark, but he didn’t openly challenge or argue with her.

“It wasn’t a shark,” he spoke, almost too quietly for her to hear it. “It was part of the plane I was in. At least that’s what they tell me. The cuts were too clean to be from teeth.”

Mari felt her hands go cold.

Then her heart slowed in her chest, hitting her ribs with a force that told her she just might have bruised the muscle.

“I… I’m glad you survived. The crash,” she added. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

He turned his head, dropping his chin down to his chest and let out a long exhale. “I’m not.”

TWO

BUCK

“I… I’m glad you survived. The crash,” she stopped short, her gaze meeting his and then pulling away. “I’m glad you’re still here.”

He turned his head, dropping his head toward his chest. His feelings could make him feel so… heavy. “I’m not.”

As soon as he said the words, he heard the room go silent.

They were the only two in the room, that and the cat lazing in his lap.

“I,” he let out another long breath, “I shouldn’t have said that.”

He didn’t know what she would say in response, if anything.

Buck looked down at the cat who was getting close to sliding off of his lap. He smiled and shifted the cat on his lap, so the cat didn’t fall off. “Is she always like this?”